An IDF master-sergeant was charged Monday with raping a female soldier at the Atlit Naval Base eight months ago. According to the indictment, the reserve officer continued to assault the soldier despite her repeated pleas and physical attempts to stop him.
The officer's attorney argued that the complainant is "a troubled soldier who comes from a troubled family background."
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According to the prosecution, the defendant came up to complainant one evening and tried to hold her hands, but was met with resistance. He went after her when she had walked away, grabbed her shoulders and attacked her physically and verbally.
The soldier, who serves in the reserve corps as well, then slapped her attacker and broke free. He managed to catch up to her and dragged him to his room, despite her continued objection. He then pushed her to the floor and raped her.
- The officer, who is married, has also been charged with obstructing an investigation for threatening the soldier in an attempt to deter her from filing a complaint. He is facing a conduct unbecoming charge as well.
"This is a disgrace," the defendant's attorney, Chai Haber, said. "The indictment doesn't have one piece of external evidence that supports the complainant's story. She says that it happened, and he says that it didn't… The phone records show that he was in one place, and she was in another."